BONA launches World Cup LOC

SHARE | Monday, 30 November 2015 | By Ontametse Sugar

BONA President, Tebogo Lebotse-Sebego

Botswana Netball Association this week launched the Local Organising Committee of the 2017 World Youth Netball Cup which the country will be hosting. BONA President Tebogo Lebotse-Sebego said that the dream to host this cup started off as something far-fetched, impossible and overly ambitious. She pushed boundaries because she believed that indeed that can be achieved.

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She appreciated the BONA executive for having tolerated what she refers to as her craziness. Her dream to make sure that she achieves this started in 2009 when she accompanied the national Under 21 team as head of delegation. The team competed in at the same event in Cook Islands, which has several islands with Rarotonga where the 2009 netball youth cup was held, being the largest of the islands. Despite being the largest island Rataronga only has a population of 15 000 and that was when she realised that it can be quite an easy thing for Botswana with a population of about two million people. “An island with less than 1% of the size of our population successfully delivered these games several years ago, so I was inspired,” she said. Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) and Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) played big roles in making sure that that the bid was compiled and submitted. “When we submitted the bid in 2012, I was confident that we had done our best as Botswana to demonstrate our ability to host,” she added. This is the first time that netball of such multitude will be held in the African soil. The Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture (MYSC) Thapelo Olopeng said the event presents quite an exciting opportunity for Batswana to wow the visitors with their hospitality, humility and present to them the amazing country with its rich and unique heritage.

He said as government they also realise the related socio and economic outcomes that the event presents. “Through the netball world youth cup 2017, Botswana will be at the centre stage and in the radar for the netball family as a destination for tourism and destination,” he said. He encouraged the nation to come together to successfully deliver the NWYC2017 in Gaborone. BONA Patron Botlogile Tshireletso said that it is important to know that 2017 will come and go, but what will be left behind for netball beyond 2017 will define true success.